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The price of activism

Activists take part in a symbolic protest in Maraba, Brazil, 03 April 2013 during the trial against three suspects for the murder of environmentalists Jose Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do Espíritu Santo da Silva. (EPA/MERCEDES ZULANI)

Environmental activists experience more violence in Latin American than anywhere else in the world, according to the UN. In recent months, green campaigners were killed in Mexico, Peru, Brazil and Costa Rica. A Global Witness report published last year says of the 711 environmentalist deaths around the world during the past decade, 592 of them were in Latin America. So, who is targeting them and why? We discuss the price of environmental activism in Latin America at 19:30GMT.

The price of activism

Attacks on green activists are on the rise in Latin America.

In a recent report the United Nations notes that Latin America is the most dangerous place in the world for environmentalists. Despite the lack of definitive statistics, Global Witness, an NGO, has identified that environmentalists have been killed in at least 34 countries around the world. As seen in the chart below, most of the killings occurred in Latin American countries:

Reported Killings of Environmentalists 2002-2011AJstreamTEST

The Global Witness study recorded the death of 711 green workers in the last decade. The organisation says this may be a conservative estimate since the report does not account for the victims of land and mining disputes or countries with restrictive human rights reporting.

The blog Environmental History Timeline documents the murders of activists year by year.

Many were shocked by the report's findings:

We are treating the word ‘Climate Change’ like we treated the word ‘genocide.’ When we witness mass killings... http://fb.me/TzPp0nRfFrank J. Regan

Sticking up for environment can be deadly: People who track killings of environmental activists say the numbers ... http://bit.ly/N8tHFJSave Your Green

Campaigns demanding justice were recently established for green workers such as Noe Vazquez Ortiza, the indigenous Amazon leader Mauro Pio Pena and the young biologist Jairo Mora, who were murdered this summer.

I find most intriguing the opposition to all kinds of hydroelectric projects, which could provide consumers with a clean energy source, and reduce the burden of power bills to boot, something which would make life much easier for rural inhabitants. Barring this alternative energy source, or mining, or the construction of bridges and roads, is equal to barring the economic development of areas which are normally quite neglected, and to deliberately hampering the creation of wealth, which — as all will surely understand — is the most effective and lasting way to fight poverty.panampost.com

We asked The Stream community what they thought were the underlying causes for the deaths of Latin American green workers:

@AJStream Coz. env. activists question the status quo of elite control over natural resources such as land, forests, & water @PrakashKashwanRed Green Politics